


Borrowing in the Bathhouse

by withinmelove



Category: Kari-gurashi no Arietti | The Secret World of Arrietty, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Domestic, Friendship, Gen, Gift Fic, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Mythical Beings & Creatures, No Sex, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28149036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withinmelove/pseuds/withinmelove
Summary: Yubaba abhors the Borrowers that live within the walls of her bathhouse.Meanwhile, Kamaji loves a particularly sweet Borrower named Etsuko as if she was his own daughter.
Relationships: Kamaji & Original Female Character(s), Kamaji & Rin, Yubaaba & Zeniiba
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Discord Community Archive





	Borrowing in the Bathhouse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaseyKat09](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseyKat09/gifts).



> This is my pledge fic for the event in the r/fanfiction discord server called Pledge! A way to give back to the fanfic community! I choose for my giftee my best friend Cae <3 She's a wonderful friend to me and in the now 8 years we've been friends I've never written a story for her lol. 
> 
> Thank you for always being a loving, supportive friend to me Cae! I figured what better way to surprise you then to write a story based around your favorite Studio Ghibli movie _Spirited Away_! It is crossed over with the movie _The Secret World of Arrietty_ which I recommend for its cuteness, however, you should be able to read it fandom blind :)

These nasty little pests of Borrowers will be the death of Yubaba if all her lazy workers weren’t first. She wasn't sure which was worse: the tiny people that called themselves Borrowers, taking things from the bathhouse, or _humans_. 

She shivered, a snarl of disgust wrinkled her mouth. No doubt it was the filthy, smelly humans with their greediness always ruining things. It was why she did her best to try and keep those beasts out even with the bathhouse hidden away in the woods. But if they persisted, Yubaba had no qualms about turning the humans who did find the spirit market into pigs. The gluttonous creatures were always gorging themselves on the food prepared for the spirits. She wasn’t surprised by the fact that the humans were lured to the market as only the best, most delectable dishes were prepared for the spirit guests. Yubaba worked too hard to waste wonderful meals on such base _things_ as humans.

This problem was solved by transforming these humans into pigs for slaughter, which provided meat for her kitchens and meant less food went to the greedy animals in human form. Still these damned Borrowers had been a thorn in her side ever since she bought this bathhouse. What seemed to be an excellent deal turned out to be infested with these miniscule parasites. 

Growing up in Swamp Bottom, Yubaba was used to many strange occurrences and magical creatures. Even her childhood home had been overrun with the little thieves. Of course, Zeniba, her twin sister, just adored the Borrowers while their parents cared not at all. 

They stole my hair ribbon!” Yubaba shrieked, stamping her foot. She threw two handfuls of her ribbons to the floor from where they were sitting atop her dresser a few moments ago. Those wretches were taking her things! Why did they bother when Zeniba gave the Borrowers everything they could possibly ask for? At this point they were just being malicious towards her, Yubaba, by taking her things.

In a fury, Yubaba stormed out from her room to the living room. Zeniba was knitting in the bay window and glanced up as Yubaba stomped towards the front door. 

“This is your fault! You encourage them, stupid!” Yubaba lashed out, nearly grinding her teeth. How infuriating her sister was. Zeniba would give away her last dress if asked. Nevermind whether it happened to be Yubaba’s last dress also. 

A frown crossed Zeniba’s face just as mother opened the front door carrying vegetables from the garden.

Mother’s smile turned down at Yubaba’s angry expression.

“Yubaba, what’s wrong? Why are you yelling?” 

Yubaba rolled her eyes. “Mother, Zeniba has been giving things to those Borrowers! They’re taking my stuff! Tell Zeniba to stop it!” She was yelling by the end, angered all over again. Yubaba had paid for her own clothes and jewelry since she could sell her potions. She also sold Zeniba’s enchanted hair ornaments and knitted items with an agreement between them that Yubaba took a slice of the profits for being the seller. If not for her, Zeniba would never make a yen just be surrounded by her crafts in her bedroom. This way at least they both made cash. 

At this Mother turned to look at Zeniba, her long thick braid swishing with the movement, eyebrows raised. 

“Is this true, Zeniba? Have you encouraged them? There is a reason we don’t give Borrowers too much. It's too easy to become greedy if you’re spoiled all the time.” Mother turned her steely gaze back onto Yubaba who lifted her chin in defiance. She was not in the wrong here. “Yubaba, do not be so stingy or hoard your things. You know the Borrowers only take what they need to live. They won’t take your jewels, lace, or silks if you lock them away. Offer something to them in return though,” Mother stated. It was no suggestion but an order. 

Yubaba sniffed with a roll of her eyes. She shouldn’t have to appease stealers, but it was clear for now that she must. When she became a grown witch, with her own home, she’d do everything in her power to make sure there was no infestation of these nasty little things. 

Originally the bathhouse had belonged to some wizard who had set his mind to turning the antique bathhouse for human tourists into a laboratory. The idiot wizard managed to blow himself up within months allowing the perfect business purchase to fall into Yubaba’s hands. 

This was excellent timing for her as she had heard news of a new international spirit market thriving in the defunct amusement park. At once, she bought it from the wizard’s grieving family at a steal. There was nothing like getting something at a steal of a price.

What was immediately clear to her, upon entering the building, was the greasy stale stench of humans _everywhere_. The reek wasn’t even slightly masked by the odors of various potions. Yubaba was glad she had thought to wear a lightly perfumed mask today for her stroll through her newly purchased bathhouse. She was no amaetuer businesswoman. She'd scrutinized this building inside and out to determine its potential as a good location for business before she decided on going through with purchasing it. 

Now she took her time to decide what she wanted to do with each area, noting storage concerns, and any other issues she needed to be aware of. 

First and foremost she'd need to cleanse this place of the cloying odor of humans. It’d take many air purifying spells, a variety of potions, and tough elbow grease to scrub it away. Of course, she would hire workers to do that last part. As a witch, Yubaba’s talents lay in more sophisticated realms, not the brute manual labor of servants and workers.

Second, the bathhouse would need an enormous amount of upgrades just to get the kitchen, furnace, baths, and guest rooms ready. Not to mention the staff would need some place to sleep. Updating the antique place would be necessary, along with recruiting workers, and negotiating a deal with the various spirit market vendors to send any of their customers on to Yubaba’s bathhouse.

Yubaba calculated the expenses against what she’d saved from her years of selling her potions in a catalogue. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. In the midst of her wandering, she walked into the kitchen. What caught her eye was a flash of colored movement. A pit sunk in her stomach.

 _No_. 

No, no!

This place had Borrowers!

Yubaba was quite familiar with the sneaking, thieving ways of Borrowers. She would have to be blind not to recognize the signs of these creatures. If there was one, it was guaranteed there was at least a whole family of them. Borrowers were not solitary creatures. Once one family settled in, it was only a matter of time before herds of others followed suit, and then bred. Making more little children, thereby caused the parents and relatives to forage for more around the house. 

Zeniba had once interrogated the Borrowers living in their Swamp Bottom home as the tiny beasts would gladly speak with her. She’d informed Yubaba that while their “code” was to never be seen by or interact with the human in their homes it was quite common for Borrowers to be friendly with their magical homeowners. Yubaba wished that wasn’t so. In fact, she would much prefer if the Borrowers feared magical owners as much as they did the humans. It would make her life much easier if she could have intimidated the parasites out of her living space and her place of business as well. 

Fury simmered inside her as she ground her teeth. The thought of cursing the seller into agony appealed to Yubaba mightily for what he had pawned off on her. When the human amusement park closed permanently, everything within it went up for sale including the bathhouse-turned-museum for tourists. Maybe that was when the Borrowers moved in, once the area emptied of the bustle of humans, or perhaps they’d been here for generations of their long lives. Regardless, this meant she’d have these devils chewing into her profits in all departments. They wouldn’t satisfy themselves with only taking from the kitchens but every single part of the bathhouse that they gained access to. 

She took a careful breath in and out to calm herself slightly. Well it seemed that Yubaba would need to add extermination fees to her budget and use various spells to lock up anything she didn’t want stolen away from under her nose. Certainly this made opening up her business a little more difficult, but, it couldn’t be any more difficult than the first years of growing her client list with her catalogue of potions, spells, and Zeniba’s enchanted beauty items and home crafts.

\--

Kamaji woke up in the solid gloom of his bedroom. A sigh escaped him as he lay there staring at the small sliding door that led to his bathroom and allowed himself to wake up a bit more. A nocturnal schedule had his body recognizing the change to evening and therefore the start of his shift even without an alarm or sunlight to wake him. He lived in the same room as the enormous boiler and furnace that heated the water for the multiple guests baths. In the still silence, without the roaring fire or grinding of the mouth of the furnace opening and closing, Kamaji had a few minutes for his own thoughts. He focused on the mild, grassy smell of the herbs in their hundreds of drawers, enjoying the scent before the heavy smell of coal burning smothered it all. After working and living here at Yubaba’s bathhouse in this room for more years than he cared to count, Kamaji took enjoyment when he could from the relentless monotonous routine. 

He came here in search of work just as all the other employees of Yubaba’s had. 

The only certainty Kamaji had left at this point in his life was that he was certain of the reason why Yubaba was so quick to hire him; entirely against the grain of her accustomed way of rejecting any new employees. He was a Tsuchigumo, a humanoid Spider. There were very few of them left now. Why he had left home in the first place was to support his feeble parents and sister. What Yubaba had needed was someone able to work the boiler and make the herbal mixes with ease once unlike her current setup at the time of multiple employees struggling to keep up with demand. He was the perfect fit. 

She was a hard woman and often had to deal with the many slug spirits or frog spirits that came here to beg for work. There was an overabundance of them in the bathhouse.

So Yubaba had alternated between warning and threatening Kamaji to do his job to her high standards after which he signed away his name. Such a momentous thing he had done all so thoughtlessly in the search for money. Over the years he worked to forgive his young self. At the time Kamaji was in desperate need of any income in order to support his elderly parents and a younger sister, and was too spider-like to even be vaguely human. That meant that he would never find work amongst their kind. In this day and age to resemble humans was an advantage as the worlds between spirits and humans were blending. 

Kamaji scoffed at himself as he sat up, his joints cracked and popped. The human world was squeezing the spirit world into whatever veiled nooks and crannies were available to it, but still the humans relentlessly invaded. 

Perhaps it was cruel to say, but Kamaji was rather glad for Yubaba’s expulsion of humans from this side of the veil. Life is far safer when the spirit realm is kept safe from easily terrified humans.   
“Good morning, Kamaji!” A small voice called out to him. He turned his gaze towards the floor to see Etsuko, a tiny young woman, running towards him. She was as small as a human’s pinky finger but as loud as a full-sized human. She got that from her father, a rather tall and large man for a Borrower, who stood near double the normal height, and had a booming voice. Perhaps foolishly, her father, Mit, was one of the friendliest Borrowers Kamaji had ever met. Mit scorned the cautionary traditions and sacred rules of little contact with the workers in the bathhouse. Generations of Borrowers had felt the wrath of Yubaba, and by extension her lackeys, in the form of the various frog and slug spirits that made up almost her entire workforce. It greatly worried Kamaji that his two daughters, Etsuko and Yima, had taken on that attitude of his. 

Kamaji knew that, like Yubaba, he was supposed to despise the Borrowers who overran the bathhouse. Many of the workers did hate the little creatures for the fact that they “borrowed” minute amounts of items, whether it be food, scraps of clothing, medicine, or whatever catches their fancy, really. He was well aware that Yubaba’s toadies gleefully killed, in many gruesome ways, any Borrowers they came across. Really, they took a human-like pleasure in doing this ugly, dirty work. 

Despite the possibility of being killed, Mit had proudly shown off each of his daughters in turn, soon after their birth, to anyone who would stop for a moment to look, including Kamaji. In all honesty he was not sure why he had become so attached to this particular Borrower over any of the others who are on friendly enough terms with him. The various Borrowers were helpful in their way, but were rarely willing to forge any close ties with any other creatures outside of themselves. Anyways, the system Kamaji set up with them worked just fine as they were willing to take the various herbs close to rotting and use them up. Otherwise, Kamaji would have just ended up sending baskets of the rotted plants to the pigs. 

Etsuko, with her dark eyes, springing corkscrew curls, and dark skin, was a joyful companion to Kamaji. Today she wore a dress dripping with lace and full skirts that swished about her knees as she ran to him. He smiled in greeting and stretched out a hand for her to jump into. The lace was recognizable as Yubaba’s, the same that ringed the collars of all her clothes, and oh how Etsuko would be horribly punished if anyone ever saw this concoction of an outfit. 

“Good morning, Kamaji! I’ve got so much to show you from my Borrowing last night! I went all the way to Yubaba’s with Yima.” Etsuko proudly crowed. She slipped a tiny bulging pack off of her shoulders. Cold dread turned his stomach. He was also well aware that Etsuko was far more materialistic than most Borrowers ever dared or thought to be. One day it could get her in fatal trouble. 

In the grand scheme of things his defiance, in allowing the Borrowers to take small bits of the various herbs in the drawers, amounted to nothing but a pathetic, weak rebellion. Yubaba was not a witch to be defied as had been made clear countless times to all who crossed her. A shiver ran through him as he remembered the last employee who did so. Yubaba had cast her not only out of the bathhouse, but indeed out into the woods on the human side of the divide. No one ever heard from Fumi again. 

“Etsuko, be careful. You know how Yubaba is and many of the workers are not friendly with Borrowers. I don’t want you disappearing on me. My heart couldn’t handle that,” Kamaji admonished.

Etsuko was one dear little Borrower woman he had grown to love. She was the daughter he never got to have. He hadn’t planned to become trapped in this bathhouse but it was the price he paid out of ignorance in order to have a home, steady income, and reliable meals everyday. His only regret was he’d never get to use the train tickets he’d been saving for thirty years now to return home.

“Don’t worry, Kamaji! I make sure no one ever sees me, besides you and Lin! Anyways, she had lots of sweets in her office last night. I wonder why,” Etsuko paused for a moment before she shrugged and went back to rummaging in her pack. “This stuff will last me a little while at least.” She pulled out what to him seemed like only crumbs and shattered pieces of candy, cookies and even a bit of sugar. He had a sneaking suspicion this sweet tooth of hers was inherited as well. 

“Kamaji-” Etsuko interrupted her story mid-sentence, startling Kamaji from his wandering thoughts.

“Yes?” 

Etsuko eyed him, her gaze solemn as she rested her hands on her hips.

“Are you ever going to go home, Kamaji? You never seem to leave this room,” Etsuko questioned. The shock of the question didn’t blunt the sharp pain that lashed him. Quickly he set Etsuko down before moving up into his raised seat in front of the boiler. He knew the answer to that question even as he’d done his best all these years to not ponder too deeply upon the reality of his situation. He will never return home. The contract with Yubaba will never permit him to leave the bathhouse in order to go visit his family. The high probability that his parents had died in his absence was near unbearable. 

“No. Now go home yourself, Etsuko. I have work,” Kamaji ordered, clanging on the bell on the side of his raised platform, drowning out anything she might have said. He did not look back at her, or check what she might be doing. Instead he focused on getting his area ready for the usual night’s routine. His dear little girl was fragile when it came to dealing with others’ negative emotions. She reflexively responded with tears when she was concerned she’d done something wrong. He would not give attention to her tears. Her innocent words cut him too deeply for him to worry about her right now.

\--

Etsuko lay in bed, her blanket pulled over herself. She knew she unintentionally hurt Kamaji’s feelings earlier when she asked why he never went home. She hadn’t meant anything by it or intended to upset him. All she knew was that the workers of the bathhouse never leave unless they died. Or so her dad had told her. She was too young to have been around when a worker died, and what they die of she’d never been told. Secretly, Etsuko thought Yubaba was somehow linked. She was a horribly malicious witch. Her cronies were of the same mean streak too.

Well...if she was going to figure out what to do about Kamaji she needed help. Besides, she’d been meaning to give the gift she got for Rin that she haggled for from a trader Borrower. So Etsuko got out of bed and dressed in her close-fitting Borrowering outfit and quietly set out. Kamaji was awake, but Rin and the fellow bathhouse women should still be asleep. They tended to wake up a little later. It was up to Kamaji each day to wake before everyone else in order to get the boiler ready so that at a moment’s notice there was hot water.

Etsuko took her preferred route through the bathhouse walls, using the various nails to maneuver around. She made it all the way up to the dormitory that Rin sleeps in without any trouble. 

She made her way across the floor by walking across the various blankets and pillows used by the workers. They were crammed in this room tightly so that there was no space between anyone. 

“Is that a mouse?!” A woman shrieked. Etsuko grunted in pain as a hand snatched her up. 

“No, it’s a little woman! I think it’s a Borrower!” Her captor, Chi, exclaimed. Etsuko struggled in Chi’s grasp even though it was futile. How stupid she was to think she could get by undetected. 

Thankfully, Rin appeared demanding to know what was going on. Etsuko saw Rin’s eyes go wide before she turned to Chi.

“What are you doing?” Rin snapped, which took Chi off balance. 

“It was creeping around our beds! I was trying to stop it from stealing anything!” She defended, her cheeks flushing pink. Rin rolled her eyes as she imperiously held out her hand.

“Give her to me. I’ll handle this.” 

At this Chi squeezed Etsuko who squeaked in pain. Larger creatures _always_ wanted to clamp down when they held small things. Only Kamaji knew how to hold Borrowers properly. 

“How do I know you’re going to do anything? I don’t want this stealing vermin coming _back_. Besides, Yubaba gives out rewards for captured Borrowers.” Chi demanded, her eyes narrowed as she drew Etsuko closer to her chest. Etsuko was terrified, her heart beating painfully in her chest. 

Rin’s jaw tightened in irritation.

“What? That you’ll get sake on the house?” She rolled her eyes as if this reward was worth nothing. 

“How about I take over cleaning the big tub for you for a month? Huh? Will that satisfy you instead of a bit of sake for a night?” Rin offered as if it didn’t matter whether Chi gave Etsuko up or not. Etsuko knew she couldn’t give the game away by begging to be given to Rin, as that would be suspicious, but right now she was very close to breaking. Never had she been captured. 

Chi hesitated, adjusting her grip on Etsuko. “...Fine. You can have it. Get rid of it. You’ll pay me back if any of my things go missing,” Chi stated before tossing Etsuko to Rin. A scream ripped from Etsuko's throat as she sailed through the air, flailing her arms and legs. Thank goodness Rin caught her before turning and striding away cool as you please. 

It wasn't until they were alone in the linen closet that Rin brought Etsuko up to her eye level. Rin was nearly squeezing her as well. Tonight Etsuko was going to be bruised by this rough handling.

“Etsuko, what were you doing?! You know it’s dangerous to visit during the day! You’re lucky I could convince her to give you to me,” Rin hissed, eyebrows pinched in anger. 

Tears burned Etsuko’s eyes as a sob burst from her lips. Rin was right. Etsuko put herself in mortal danger and this was too close of a call. She would have been doomed without Rin there to intervene. 

“Hey, don’t cry, Etsuko. Come on, I was scared. I’m sorry. What were you coming up here for anyways?” Rin asked, trying to comfort her. Despite Rin’s brusque attitude, she was uncomfortable with tears. Etsuko struggled to pull herself together. 

“I - I was coming to give you a present.” Etsuko explained, wiping at her eyes. “Also, I wanted to talk with you. I upset Kamaji and I need help,” she said. She’d assumed it would still be early enough that the women would be asleep so she could drop off her gift thereby signaling to Rin that she wanted to meet as well. 

Rin shook her head in exasperation. 

“You _know_ we have signals you can leave for me to get my attention safely. And what do you mean you upset Kamaji? What happened?” She asked as she set Etsuko on a shelf between stacks of towels and sheets. Thankfully, no matter where they were in the bathhouse, there were always various tiny openings in the walls that various Borrowers have made. 

Etsuko rubbed a towel at her side, her fear twisted into embarrassment. 

“I was talking to Kamaji, as usual, and I asked him why he doesn’t go home. Because no one here ever goes home!” Etsuko hurried to add, seeing the expression Rin gave her. 

Rin crossed her arms as she looked away. Her waist-length brown hair was not yet tied back for the day, and swished at the movement. 

“Of course, you wouldn’t know,” Rin muttered, her gaze still turned away. For some reason that tone from her friend hurt Etsuko’s feelings. How the bathhouse was run was of little concern to Borrowers except what time was best to go Borrowing and what staff were safe to interact with.

Rin looked at Etsuko, lips thin before she sighed. 

“The reason that question upset him, Etsuko, is because _no one_ goes home. When someone works here they work here until they die.” Rin breathed out running her fingers through her hair. “Yubaba has every worker here sign a contract where she takes your name. It binds you here and soon enough you forget your original name, which is your only way home again.” 

Etsuko stared, mouth agape, at her horribly insensitive question. Humiliation slithered through her rib cage. She hadn’t meant to hurt Kamaji or bring up painful memories. 

“Is there anything I can do? To make up for it?” She asked, scared that she’d pushed Kamaji away by accident. She’ll go Borrowing for anything for Kamaji if it meant he wouldn’t treat her coldly. 

“How about you meet me at our usual spot when I go to feed the soot sprites and we can both discuss a plan?” Rin suggested. Etsuko nodded, relieved. If Rin was willing to think up a plan all was not lost. She was a resourceful friend. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll get this figured out with Kamaji. Now go home and stay put until it’s time,” Rin ordered. 

Etsuko waved goodbye before wriggling her way through the pin-sized opening in the wall.

\--

Despite the fact that Borrowers had put a trading system in place, it was still quite a laborious and time consuming event to move items between the multitude of outposts. Etsuko waited with bated breath for her item to arrive for Kamaji. She and Rin had hatched a plan to retrieve something that would be meaningful to Kamaji as an apology gift. They had hit upon seeing if Kamaji’s sister was still alive. Rin knew where Kamaji was from as he had told her once, long ago, when they’d discussed where they would go first when they managed to escape this bathhouse. 

Etsuko had written a message to be read to Kamaji’s sister, Nen, if she was still alive, explaining who she was and that she was hoping for a tiny gift to relay to him. Travel was not possible for Nen as she was too frail to make the long journey to and from the bathhouse. Besides, the few Tsuchigumo left live in deep isolation, too feared by humans to venture out into the mortal realm. The thought of leaving every single bit of family she had behind in the name of surviving was heartbreaking to Etsuko. She didn’t know if she could do what Kamaji did. 

It was nearly a month later that _finally_ Etsuko heard back! 

Kamaji, in the meantime, had gone back to treating her as he always had, with affection and prickly warmth. Still...it didn’t sit right with Etsuko, her misstep. She wanted to make it up to him.

As usual she was sitting under the red bridge that led from the spirit market to the bathhouse and watched for anyone entering the ferry on a pulley system. If there was any mail or trading to be done all Borrowers would come this way. The water surrounding the bathhouse ensured this route. It was near dusk when Etsuko saw Hija, the courier, made his way into the ferry. He waved hello to her as he did so. She popped up to her feet, her heart pounding with nerves. Had Nen replied? Had she sent anything back as requested? 

“Hello, Etsuko! You’ve got a package. A large one at that. My heaviest yet.” Hija teased as he stepped out of the ferry and slung off his pack which landed with a thud, and a small poof of dust rose up. Sure enough, something clinked inside the pack. He pulled the item out to reveal a bracelet from which hung glass miniature spiders that softly tinked against one another. From what she knew this was a baby bracelet. It seemed far too small for any normal-sized male or female creature’s wrist. 

“Thank you, Hija. Did Nen send a note back?” Etsuko asked, transferring the bracelet to her own backpack. Sure enough, the item weighed her down quite noticeably. 

Hija shook his head. “No note. She said she never learned to write. But she sends that to her brother with love and hopes that he’s in good health,” he answered. She nodded, before waving goodbye to him and hurrying off to the boiler room. Hija would want to talk with the other Borrowers for any other errands or items that need to be sent. Etsuko’s top priority was getting this to Kamaji.

It seemed like it took her twice as long to make it to the boiler room as usual, but as she entered, her heart started pounding again. She was nervous now that she was about to give this gift to him. Will doing this stir up bitter feelings in Kamaji again? Will he not want to speak to her for treading on a sensitive topic once more? Etsuko swallowed against her cotton-mouth and dashed across the floor, through the bustling soot sprites bringing coal to the furnace. 

Kamaji noticed her at once and lowered a hand for her to hop on. 

“What are you up to today, Etsuko? Staying out of sight, eh? Rin let slip today while you were gone that you got yourself caught a month ago. You’re lucky I don’t tell your parents what you’ve been up to.” Kamaji admonished before setting her down next to his tea kettle. He returned to his regular grinding of the various herbs and brushed them into his wooden container box.

“I have been. I was trying to ask Rin for help on something. And I wanted to say I’m sorry, Kamaji!” Etsuko apologized as she pulled her pack open. “I hurt your feelings asking about your home, and I didn’t mean to do that. I asked it out of curiosity was all. Anyways - I managed to get a hold of your sister, Nen, to help me apologize and to make up for my mistake. She sent this.” Etsuko pulled out the tiny spider bracelet admiring the dark shimmering stones set in the spiders’ multitude of eyes. 

Kamaji gaped even as four bath tokens on silken cords fell down in front of his desk. He ignored them completely in order to gently pluck the bracelet from Etsuko’s hands. 

“My dear...you managed to speak with Nen? How?” Kamaji whispered, turning the jewelry this way and that. The firelight glittered off the polished glass.

“Through other Borrowers! I had to ask anyone who would be traveling in that area to try and find Nen for me. Rin told me where she lived and then I asked any traveling Borrowers to reach out to her if they were going to that area.”

“Etsuko...you do too much for an old spider like me and all in the name of an apology. Thank you, sweetheart,” Kamaji murmured, gently setting down the bracelet in front of him. “You asking me about my home did make me very homesick and I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. Thank you, my dear one, for doing all of this for me.”

Kamaji scooped her up and very lightly pressed her to his chest in a semblance of a hug. 

“Of course, Kamaji! Anything for my favorite spider grandpa.”

**Author's Note:**

> My beta Karios is such a wonderful beta! I'm so grateful he's been here to help edit in all the commas in my fics and brainstorm more depth into my fics. Thank you, thank you for all time and effort <33
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